Manager allegedly forged 100-plus company checks

A company manager allegedly forged over a hundred company checks that amounted to over $20,000, telling his employers they will be paid back upon his death.

Sun Kyou Joo, 36, was arrested on Tuesday for theft and forgery. A $6,000 cash bail was initially imposed for the defendant’s temporary liberty.

In yesterday’s bail hearing, Superior Court associate judge Ramona V. Manglona agreed to impose a $600 cash bail and $5,400 unsecured bond on the defendant.

Manglona granted Joo’s request to appoint his uncle as third-party custodian.

Arraignment was set for Dec. 29, 2008.

Detective Joaquin I. Deleon Guerrero stated in his report that police started conducting the investigation on Nov. 4 when an employee of XO Market in Chalan Laulau reported a theft case to the Department of Public Safety.

Deleon Guerrero said a police officer who had responded to the store learned that Sung Sook Cho, part-owner of Kim & Cho Co. Ltd. that owns Cool Car Wash, had gone to XO Market to inform them about the forgery.

Cho claimed one of her employees, Jo, cashed the company checks by forging the signatures at XO Market and H-Mart.

Detective Deleon Guerrero said that during his interview with Cho on Nov. 21, the businesswoman stated that her husband, Yung Dae Kim, came to Saipan in June 2008 and opened Cool Car Wash.

Joo, who was hired as the manager for the business, asked Kim to open a checking account in order to run the business on the island.

Kim opened a checking account with Bank of Saipan. He is the only authorized signatory to the checks.

The businessman gave Joo the company’s post office key and instructed him to receive the company mail when they come in.

Kim left for Korea at the end of July 2008. In September, Cho arrived on the island and took over the operation of their business.

At her request, Joo gave her the post office key and 59 pieces of company checks.

Cho mailed the checks to Korea as Kim would be signing and issuing checks from there.

Cho, however, later learned that company checks had been cashed at XO and H-Mart. She further discovered that over a hundred pieces of returned company checks had been forged.

When the businesswoman confronted Joo about it, the defendant allegedly apologized to her. Joo reportedly stated that Cho and Kim will be paid back upon his death.

Bank of Saipan informed Cho that the forged company checks that had been cashed amount to over $20,000.